Friday, February 27, 2015

Summary:
She didn’t want to become someone people avoided and feared. She wanted to live to hold Anna’s baby and know it was her grandchild. She wanted to see Lydia act in something she was proud of. She wanted to see Tom fall in love. She wanted to read every book she could before she could no longer read.

Alice Howland is proud of the life she has worked so hard to build. A Harvard professor, she has a successful husband and three grown children. When Alice begins to grow forgetful at first she just dismisses it, but when she gets lost in her own neighborhood she realizes that something is terribly wrong. Alice finds herself in the rapid downward spiral of Alzheimer’s disease. She is only 50 years old.

While Alice once placed her worth and identity in her celebrated and respected academic life, now she must re-evaluate her relationship with her husband, her expectations of her children and her ideas about herself and her place in the world.

Losing her yesterdays, her short-term memory hanging on by a couple of frayed threads, she is living in the moment, living for each day. But she is still Alice.

Still Alice is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as powerful as Ordinary People. You will gain an understanding of those affected by early-onset Alzheimer’s and remain moved and inspired long after you have put it down.

Film:

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.

My first novel, STILL ALICE, winner of the 2008 Bronte Prize, nominated for 2010 Indies Choice Debut Book of the Year by the American Booksellers Association, and winner of the 2011 Bexley Book of the Year Award spent over 40 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It has been translated into 25 languages and was chosen as one of the thirty titles for World Book Night 2013.

Originally self-published, I sold it out of the trunk of my car for almost a year before it was bought at auction by Simon & Schuster.

LEFT NEGLECTED, also a New York Times Bestseller, was a #1 Indie Next Pick, the Borders “Book You’ll Love” for January 2011, and the #4 Indie Reading Group Pick for summer 2011, and a Richard & Judy Book Club Pick.

LOVE ANTHONY, also a New York Times bestseller, is about autism. It was an October 2012 Indie Next pick and a People Magazine Great Read. USA Today calls it “beautifully written and poignant to the point of heartbreak.”

"After I read STILL ALICE I wanted to stand up and tell a train full of strangers, YOU HAVE TO GET THIS BOOK." - Beverly Beckham, Boston Sunday Globe

“Lisa Genova is the Michael Crichton of brain science. What she proved with STILL ALICE, she proves again with LEFT NEGLECTED. This is huge, powerful human drama at its elegant best." -Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

Summary:
All Gloria Falcon wants is to have a nice New Year’s Eve with a nice man. Is that so much to ask? But after seven disastrous New Years in a row, this year she’s trying something different. Committed to spending her New Year’s Eve manning the phones at a suicide crisis phone line, Gloria is sure the karma she earns will break her New Year’s curse. But when a blackout cancels her night of philanthropy, rather than spend the night moping in the dark, she goes on a ride along with the cute linesman who failed to fix the power.

Charlie Zhang is not much of a New Year believer either. He’s coasting through life after being discharged from the army and trying not to let his cynicism of pretty much everything define him. When Gloria Falcon climbs into Charlie’s life, and his repair truck, neither of them expect this to be the New Year’s Eve that changes their minds, and their fate, forever.

We look at each other and I know I have a stupid smile on my face. I’m sure it’s one of those smiles that says: “if you so much as compliment my handwriting I will suck your cock until you beg for mercy” but I don’t care. Charlie just smiles back at me.
And smiles back.
And smiles back.
My friend Amy told me about this mythical creature once: the “wants-you-to-make-the-first-move guy”. She says they’re mostly to be found in Canada, but occasionally you might encounter one south of the border. Amy says if you meet one you might assume you should approach it quietly, gently, like you might try to hand feed a wild deer, but in fact the opposite is true. Apparently you need to be aggressive with them. You need to take control of the situation and not give them a chance to ruin things with their manners and courtesy. Amy says when it comes to men, manners and courtesy are only a short taxi ride away from apathy. And nothing kills a night of hot sex faster than male apathy. It’s like anti-viagra.
I can’t quite believe it, but I think I have found myself a honest to goodness wants-you-to-make-the-first-move guy.
“Are you Canadian?” I ask. I just need to confirm he’s the genuine creature.
“My mother is. How did you know?”
I don’t answer. I grab him by the front of his blue work shirt and pull him forward into a kiss.
For a courteous guy, he kisses like a god. After only a second’s shocked hesitation, he wraps his hands around my back and pulls me across the center console until I’m practically in his lap, the gear shift jamming into my hip. He slides one hand into my hair and one, oddly, down my leg to rest on the top of my boot. His thumb does little maddening circles over my tights. Our tongues touch – he’s a little tentative at first, but after a second he’s holding my head so tightly, pressing our mouths together so firmly that I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to.
And I don’t want to.
He tastes like strawberry smoothie and it’s a revelation. I realize that I’ve never kissed a guy who didn’t taste like liquor or smoke. Often both. Kissing Charlie feels healthy. Nutritious even. As though I’m getting vitamins and minerals and will wake up with thicker shinier hair and skin that’s 25% more luminous.
He slides the boot hand up around my ass and moves me again, but this time the steering wheel crams into my back. I make a strangled noise.
“What?” he says.
“Steering wheel. Spine. Pain.” I manage.
Charlie feels around the side of the seat for a second. There’s a loud click and the backrest falls so quickly that we’re both practically catapulted into the back seat.
“Sorry,” he says, helping me clamber into the back beside him. We kiss some more, as somewhere, from one of the boats, the music from Frozenis playing. I pull back an inch and look into his dark brown eyes.
“Do you have a condom?” I say.
Safety Girl. That’s me

1. What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?
I work as a designer for indie authors, many of whom are writing romance. By working with them I got interested in reading some of their stuff and I realized I’d like to try writing it. I’ve been writing YA for years so it was a fun change to have my characters grow up a bit and be able to explore sexier stories

2. When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process(outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
I love the writing. I often don’t plot much so I discover the story as I go. Sometimes I’m as surprised as my characters by things that happen in my books. I also love re-reading my work. I proofread and edit as I go but sometimes I just like to read something I’ve written. I don’t know why I enjoy that so much, but I do.

3. When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
It varies. I go through phases. Right now I’m in a non-fiction phase. But I still do read a lot of romance and erotica and I like that. I’m very curious to try writing something paranormal suspense-ish so I might read a few like that.

4. If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
I suppose someone super successful! J.K. Rowling maybe. It might be quite fun to write a sexy magical romance with her. But I also think being part of the duo that call themselves Christina Lauren would be hilarious because their books are so vulgar and sexy and funny.

5. Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?
I started writing “books” before I even know how to read. I remember my mother stapling bits of paper together so I could write in little books. I’ve been writing professionally for nearly twenty years in film, TV and YA. I’m new to romance, but old to writing!

Author Bio:
Bibi Rizer is a mom, blogger, teacher and writer living in the Pacific Northwest. While she’s been writing professionally for many years, romance and erotica are relatively new pursuits.
Bibi likes writing about strong kinky women and brave willing men living in realistic and imperfect worlds.
In her spare time Bibi sings Karaoke and hangs around on film sets with child actors. Having the firm belief that no one can be too weird or too funny, she happily admits that most of her favorite people and characters are both.

Summary:
SynthPet technician Samantha can't remember much of being a child, but the scraps of memory she clings to all hold the same terror--Arles Colfter. Now he's blackmailing her, threatening her elderly father, and forcing her to face a past long buried.

Plus she's pretty sure he's a baby-eating werewolf.

All Sam wants is to live quietly with her herd of cats and one-eared dog, but backed into a corner by Arles and his freak show assortment of family, she's forced to unravel a thorny tangle of truth and lies, or risk being dragged down the rabbit hole into Arles's world of intrigue, gun-toting vigilantes, and...zombies.

Look Back in Anger is a paranormal romance with shifters and zombies and lethal spray cheese!

This Omnibus Edition collects the six Look Back in Angerepisodes into a single volume for ease of reading and to provide an alternative way to read the serial for those who aren't using Kindle Unlimited.

"She’d never thought of herself as unwell. Not in the way he seemed to be implying. Maybe she’d never quite felt whole, never quite felt complete or content with her life, but that wasn't the same as unwell. She’d filled her life with work, with animals, with machines to distract from what was missing, that intangible something she’d never been able to put a name to. Arles. Arles was its name."

Author Bio:
S.N.Graves was born in the South and can’t see calling anyplace without a Waffle House home. She earned her M.F.A. in Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in 2014 and is a senior editor at Loose Id LLC.

It was either write or become the world’s lamest super villain and cat lady, so S.N.Graves focused all her spinster energy into tormenting her characters instead of laying siege to the world with monkey assassins and satanic subliminal messages in cute cat videos. She is happily married to the self-proclaimed victim of Stockholm syndrome, David Graves, and enjoys duct taping her two teenage sons to a chair and forcing them to read all the ugly first drafts of her urban fantasy books.

Kiki is desperate to stop the twisted relationship she shares with Chet Sinclair, but finds that she can’t. He is too vital, too potent… like a magnet, she cleaves to him. Desperate to break the pattern, she goes into hiding to escape her feelings and a ghost from her past comes back to haunt her.

The Consumption.

Needy and unnerved, Kiki turns to the one person that offered her solace from the past. Can Damon Axton erase what’s begun? Will he be the one to break the cycle of sexual intensity and obsession that Chet uses to imprison her, body and soul?

A Recompense of Love.

When Sinclair discovers where Kiki is hiding, their passion explodes once again. Can either admit their true feelings for each other? Or will sensual enslavement destroy their dark love before it has begun?

“No.” I stare down at Ax from where's he perched on the beat-up futon—my bed. “We're not a team until we get some shit straight.”
Ax's jet black eyebrow hops to his hairline. “Baby—”
“No,” I say, waving a palm in his face like a railroad arm coming down over a track. “Don't you baby me.” My eyes shoot sparks, and he leans back with a grunt.
“You clobbered Chet.” I cross my arms.
“Yeah-huh.” He gives his short hair a rough scrub. “And Chump was deserving, Kik.”
I stomp my high heel. “Maybe!” I stab the air with my finger. “But you nailed him from behind, and now he's, I don't know, dead or broken somewhere.”
Ax shakes his head. “I've looked into Chet-buddy, and his rich ass can take care of its own self.” He wags a finger and leans back again.
I pace as if the energy is pouring off me. I whirl and point at him.
His eyes narrow on my hot pink nail tip.
“You have a closet full of chick’s clothing,” I say.
Ax shrugs, giving my once-pristine outfit an eye rake. “I see you made use of it.”
“Why, Ax?”
His expression is unreadable, not the open face I remember so well. “The Crawl isn't my only business, Kik. I have some others.”
“What do you mean?” I search his face, and a flicker skates across his dark gaze. “Don't bullshit me, Ax. It won't work. I'm a fucking hard-charging broad. You know this.”
He grins, white teeth slashing across his face. “Oh, I know. Damn, girl, do I know.” He chuckles. “This isn't where I normally hang. In fact, this is just a little lily pad I hop on to sleep over once in a while. Sometimes employees from my other businesses need somewhere to crash, and I give them a boost.”
“How much of a boost?” I'm aware my voice has just dipped into suspicion.
“Kik…” His eyes meet mine, and they're not remotely soft, but hard as flint. “Why do I feel you're coming down hard on me when I've been doing nothing but helping you? Let me count the ways of my awesome.” He winks, ticking off his great points on his fingers. “I took you in when Chump was admiring his own dick.” I roll my eyes, and he continues. “I haven't put the moves on your hotness.”
Oh.

Ode to the Three Star Reviewer
This is a love letter of sorts. Anyone who's ever bothered to check out my blog, Facebook or twitter sites knows that I'm positive, assertive and command a great respect for my readers (and all other supporters). Some authors won't make the ballsy move to say anything about reviewers because we're terrified of offending anyone by accident and getting labeled as one of “those” authors. Well, no need to worry about that, guys. I'm not one of “those.” I'm a normal chick whose day job is writing. I'm a wife, a mother of four, and daydream from mind to paper. It's not complicated. I'm not here to spread negativity so rest assured, the words that follow are positive, truthful and from the heart. It's all good.

This month I'd like to touch on reviewers. I love my readers; I am one. I read about 3-4 books per week and understand my taste intimately, select accordingly and won't go past 10% [eReader] on any work unless it engages me. Since I'm a niche writer... well, that typically means I don't like “broad” work. However, there's exceptions, like BEAUTIFUL DISASTER. I loved that work and its wide appeal cannot be denied. The one that took the rug out from underneath me was the wonderfully dark, poignant and clearly controversial CJ Roberts masterpiece, CAPTIVE in the DARK. Wow. Just- wow.

So- I understand your pain. I read, I select, and I... critique.

What? You don't like everything you read? The short answer is: no.

However, as a writer, your constructive criticisms are helpful. I won't lie: I adore the fives stars, the one stars are tough... the three stars are [typically] informative. As an artist I don't “learn” much from that wide pendulum, though I appreciate every review. Appreciate doesn't mean like or dislike, it's a nod to the time it took that reader to voice their thoughts in a tangible way. Stephen King once said: “The worst advice? ‘Don’t listen to the critics.’ I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they’re telling you something is broken that you can fix.”

Okay, King is The Master. Since we write, we need to listen to our readers so we can continue to improve our work: the craft of writing. Everyone's time is valuable and I don't ever dismiss readers who share their thoughts.

I love hearing what resonated in my work; I need to hear what didn't work just as much. Some things compromise the work and I can't alter those, but I can add things that readers need. My break out dark romantic suspense, A TERRIBLE LOVE is a case in point. When I read some reviews where readers wanted to hear more back story, and just more “why,” I fleshed that out in the companion, A BRUTAL TENDERNESS. However, the intrinsic character's personalities must remain true to who they are, a product of what shaped them in the past, and what the present is feeding them. I usually use the rule of “3s.” If I hear the same criticism three times (or the same “love”) I will emphasize the latter and improve the former.

I'll speak for all those who write: if you care about your words, you care about who's reading them. Altering your work to improve it for your reader while remaining true to your style isn't cheating, it's progressing.

Thank you so much for reading our work. Without you, they're just words on a page.

Author Bio:
Marata Eros (a pen name for Tamara Rose Blodgett), is the NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author of A Terrible Love. Marata has more than thirty-five titles in multiple genres including Dark Fantasy, Dark Romance as well as her highly successful Dark Erotica series.

Marata lives in South Dakota with her husband, children and fur kids. She is an ardent reader of many genres. Tamara enjoys interacting with her readers via Twitter, blog and newsletter as often as possible. Please stop by and say hi :)

Summary:
What if nightmares, best kept in the dark, refuse to stay hidden?

Dr. Maya Kelbeck believes no matter how unusual her patients’ delusions, she can help. When billionaire Alden Caldwell seeks her counsel to escape a controlling relationship, she’s intrigued by his unusual diagnosis, lycanthropy—her patient actually believes he is over 400 years old and a werewolf.

Alden Caldwell’s life is not his own and hasn’t been since the middle ages, not since he was transformed into a werewolf. The once noble knight now finds himself no more than a slave to a female vampire who is without morals, without conscious, without a soul.

Maya promises Alden she can help him, and at first it looks like she can, until the supernatural world in which he lives wants him back. Can Alden convince Maya his delusions are real in time to save her, or has he just sentenced a woman who cares for him despite his past transgressions to a fate worse than death?

Stone Cold Dead #1Summary:
Death stalks the dark streets of Boston, but even death has enemies…
Being a hero is Ryan di Taro’s job. Eradicating the city of vampires and other monsters that hide in the dark is how he got the title. When an unknown woman appears and saves his life and then disappears, he’s not sure if he’s made a friend or enemy. Should he accept her help in hunting down the undead, or is she part of an elaborate plan the creatures of darkness have created to end his quest to see evil eliminated for good.

Author Bio:
Shea Berkley started out writing nonfiction (not so fun) and quickly moved into fiction (totally fun), and knew she'd found her calling. (Her family was thrilled she'd found friends to play with even if they weren't technically real.) She's still pleasantly surprised people are willing to pay to read her stories. Besides writing, her many diversions include kickboxing, reading awesome books and hanging out with her loud and rambunctious family. With five kids (all girls), her biggest job is to make sure the little darlings don't harass the neighbors and then play dumb when the cops come knocking on her door.

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